Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1887-01-19

the York River Road, and then retired to
his room. Before leaving in the evening
the prisoner inquired if a young man called
for him, saying he had an engagement to
go to the theatre that night witch friend.
1t was evident that the murderer had an
abb in his mind when this inquiry was
made. To the police, after his arrest,
when asked if he could account for himself
ON the night of Lilian's death, Cluverius
said that he was at the Academy of Music.
MISS MADIsoN's BODY FOUND.
On the 18th March Saturday the body
of a woman was found floating in the reser
voir. A jury of inquest was summoned.
and the body removed to the City Hospital
in order to allow an opportunity for identi-
fcation. The next day Sunday two
Misses Dunstan, who formerly lived in
King William, aud knew Lillian Madison,
recognized the body as that of that young
woman. If was subsequently identified by
the father, uncle and cousin of Miss Madi-
son.
| CLUvERIUs ARRESTED.
| Through these relatives the attachment
which existed between Cluverius and the
dead girl was learned. This fact and the
name en- the envelope containing the note
Of the strange girl who had left the Ameri-
can Hotel SO mysteriously led to the arrest
of young Cluverius. The accused was
found at the home of his aunt near Gen.
he was arrested. When informed that the
| Of11parg had N cha rOit,r inn tb
the murder of his cousin, the prisoner never
asked the name of the person whose murder
| he was charged with, or any other particu-
| lars. Nor did he show any sign ofanxiety
| He was brought here and committed to the
third district station-house. There he
| was searched, and a link of his watch chain,
which one of the officers had observed on
the road from Mrs. Tunstall's, was missing.
When questioned about this the prisoner
declared that the officers were mistaken;
| that he did not have the missing link when
he left home.
MISSING wATCH-CHAIN LINK.
The prisoner was visited by his brother,
Mr.. Willie Cluverius, before he was search
ed by the officers. Subsequently that
young man gave the officers the link of
chain, saying ne had brought it up from
home, thinking they might want it. This
little trinket and a watch key found near
the reservoir were two of the most import
ant pieces Of testimony connecting the &C.
eused with the scene Of the murder. The
key was picked up by little boy near the
hole in the fence separating the reservoir
grounds from Hollywood Cemetery. This
was the route as traced by the tracks the
murderer and ruined victim took in going
up the reservoir embankment
THE wATCH-KEY IDENTIFIED.
The key was identified by Herman Joel,
German matchmaker, as one he believed he
had repaired for the prisoner at Centreville,
in King and Queen county, year before
the murder. Joel always declared he would
not swear to this key unless allowed to open
and examine the work he had done on it.
This the defense refused to accede to. A
few weeks ago, in considering the condem-
ned mans appeal for pardon or eommuta-
tien of sentence, Gov. Lee got Joel to open
the key and examined it. This he did, and
identified it beyond doubt as the one he had
repaired for Cluverius.
TRIAL AND CONVICTION.
After trial of 81 days Cluverius was con-
victed on June 4, 1885, of the murder of
Fannie Lillian Madison, and few days later
sentenced to be hung. The trial attracted
more interest than any held in this city in
the past % years. The main points in the
testimony are familiar 10 the public-how
Cluverius endeavored to show that he had
never owned the watch-key found at the
reservoir; how he attempted to account for
the scratches on his hands, and his good
character. Then for the prosecution-the
intimacy between the two cousins; the op-
portunities for criminal intimacy; his letter
| to Lillian pressing upon her the necessity of
marrying another; the lewd poetry found in
the trunk of the deceased and proved to
have been written by the accused, which
established the intimacy between the man
and the woman; the visit of the accused and
deceased to dsreputable house on the day
| of the murder; their visit to Belle Isle; the
letter written on the day of the girls death
to her aunt, and dated day ahead, telling
of her intention of going to Old Point
These facts, and many others equally as
| important connecting the prisoner with
| Miss Madison's visit here, are quite well
| known.
| The defense relied upon the failure of the
| prosecution to make out their case. Their
hope, and only hope, was that the jury, with
all the mysteries and doubts surrounding
the case, would accept the theory that the
betrayed girl, failing to have her wrongs
| righted by marriage, had thrown herself in
the reservoir and taken her own life. The
jury, however, after the case was given
them, promptly brought in verdict of
guilty-and one, too, which, az that time
| at least, accorded fully with the sentiments
of the people of the State.
EFFORTS TO SAVE cLUvERIUs.
The prisoners counsel carried the case to
the Court of Appeals, where, after mature
deliberation, the Judgment of the lower
court was fully sustained-only one member
of the appellate court dissenting.
The prisoners counsel then made an un-
| successful effort to get the court to grant a
rehearing, but this, too, was refused. The
! only hope left then to save the young fell
low from the gallows was executive clemen-
cy. How the doomed man petitioned Gov.
Lee to pardon or commute his sentence to
Imprisonment for life, and this being de-
MED, how a respite was secured, are events
still fresh in the minas of the public.
REMARKABLE PRISONER.
| Cluverius was the most remarkable pris-
oner ever seen by tho authorities here.
Never from the day of his arrest did he
ever break down or show any signs of fear
| of the death that seemed to await him,
| even from the first His manner was calm,
sef.reliant, and through all of his trials he
was comparatively cueertul. Tie perSlsteu
in denying that he killed his victim or
even met her in Richmond on the day of
her death.
HIS LAST TALK WITH DR.. HArcsER.
Rev. DR.. Hatcher, the spiritual adviser
of Cluverius, in an interview this evening,
gave what occurred between himself ami
the prisoner Just before the latter walked to
the scaffold. He thanked the doctor for his
kindness and desired him to yivs his love
to all those at home. DIR. Hatcher, who
occupied the confidential relationship of
spiritual adviser, expresses it as his opinion
that Cluverius's senteuse ought to have
beea committed to imprisonment The
body of the executed man was placed in a
handsome rosewood casket this evening,
and will tomorrow morning be carried to
the house of Mrs. Tunstall, in King and
Queen county, and buried in the old family